Television filtering devices known as V-chips have been provided that can be used to prevent certain programs from being displayed on a TV. A parent, for example, can instruct the V-chip not to display programs with certain ratings. In this way, a parent can ensure that certain programs will not be viewed by a child when the parent is away.
It will readily be appreciated that V-chips depend on the ratings of programs. These ratings are not assigned by the parent, but rather by the broadcaster or content provider or some other external agency, meaning that all parents in essence are at the mercy of the rating discretion that is exercised by a third party or unknown entity. It happens that many programs which are given normally acceptable ratings, e.g., “general audience” ratings, might in fact be highly objectionable to some parents. Violent cartoons, music shows featuring profane, infantile chants, and the like all might be given ratings that skirt under the levels set by the parents for blocking objectionable content through V-chip or similar blocking technology.
As recognized herein, one way to empower parents to address the above problem is to provide them with a way to review what their child has viewed while alone. As further understood herein, tracking a child's channel selections can be challenging if not impossible with existing TVs.